London’s tech startups are booming, but their biggest challenge is just around the corner | ZDNet
According to figures from London & Partners, the capital’s tech firms accounted for over 80 percent of all venture capital money invested into the UK since the country voted to leave the European Union. Despite fears that investment would collapse after the leave vote, UK tech companies have received over £5 billion in VC funding since June 2016. That’s more than France (£1.55bn), Germany (£2.15bn) and Sweden (£644m) combined. Most of that (£4 billion) has gone to tech firms in London — well ahead of Paris (£1.14bn), Berlin (£814m) and Stockholm (£542m).
Ahead of London Tech Week, when the capital aims to show off its prowess in everything from artificial intelligence to 5G, the city’s mayor Sadiq Khan said: “London is the undisputed tech capital of Europe and today’s figures offer further proof that London remains a leading global tech hub for investors.”
All very impressive, and it’s also worth remembering that the benefits from that tech boom stretch further than developers and entrepreneurs. The area of London affected by tech-driven growth has changed hugely in the last decade. Some might mourn the loss of some of the older, grubbier, Shoreditch that’s now being replaced with hipster hangouts, but that digitally-fuelled gentrification has brought plenty of new jobs for non-techies too. Nor should the tech economy be considered to be some geeky and irrelevant subculture; these are exactly the sorts of high-skill, high-wage jobs that every city and region is desperate to attract. There is a global battle for these jobs, and right now London is doing well.